This blog will follow my eighteen month LDS mission in the South. September 2013–March 2015

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Well I’m here!

So here I am at P-Day #2! FINALLY. And I’m already in the field. Wut. But it’s all good. We live in a pretty nice apartment, sort of. About as nice as my apartment at Liberty Square at BYU. I don’t think my hair ever dries. We have a washer and dryer in our apartment (our kitchen to be more specific). Tracting and teaching is great! We sing a lot! Our Mission President wants us to sing at every lesson soooooo yeeeeah I got that down. We share the apartment with two other Sisters, who are in the Spanish ward. One is from Canada! They are a lot of fun. But guess what. My trainer has only been out for 6 WEEKS. So we’re basically training each other. What even is this, again. But it’s all good. Too bad there isn’t anyone who understands my nerdy-ness though. No one here likes Pokémon! I cry myself to sleep over that every night. JK. but everything’s good. It’s nice having a car, but we only have a certain amount of miles every month, so we have to be careful. Conference was awesome! But it was kind of difficult sitting in the same chair in the same room, in the same building for practically three days straight, the way it turned out for us. But it was great! Loved it all.

My district was so sad to part with each other, but the elders gave us all blessings, and that was a really sweet experience. It really goes to show how the Lord knows us each personally– these elders had never given blessings before, but each one was personal and completely different for each person. Each elder gave a blessing to two sisters, and they were all unique and special. It really was the Lord speaking to us and the Holy Ghost giving us each comfort in the way we needed it. I have so many pictures! But I’m going to have to figure to how to send them in another email, (again) sorry!

Anyway, so it is BEAUTIFUL HERE. The leaves are barely starting to change though. It was like going back in time to the last bit of summer. Except for all the rain. It has basically been raining non-stop since I got here. And when it wasn’t raining, it was “misting” like it was the produce section in the grocery store. Sometimes there’s so much humidity, it just kind of turns to rain where it is. It’s hard to describe, but imagine walking through a mister all the time. But it’s all good! Even in the rain, it’s very beautiful! The trees all have things growing on them, like they’re wearing sweaters of ivy. Love it. Also, “mountains”. That’s all.

We cleaned a hoarder’s house for a service project the other day, for 4 or 5 hours. Oh my gosh. Oh. My. Gosh. Unspeakable. Mouse droppings everywhere, HUGE 50-cent piece (NOT AN EXAGGERATION) spiders, that JUMP LIKE GRASSHOPPERS. And I had to sort through really gross things. I can’t even begin to go into it. But the lady was really glad that we were helping her. She wants to get baptized, but she has been smoking since she was a teen (she’s 45) and doesn’t think she could quit. But she wants to join a religion where people actually practice and believe their faith (her words). She is wavering, but I hope the spirit will reach her, and help her to quit smoking.

My companion is named Sister Bailey, and she’s as sweet and enthusiastic as can be! I’m glad she has a better feel for the place we’re in (Charlottesville) than I do, because I am utterly lost. Good thing we have a GPS. I’m really glad we don’t have to bike though.

I’m serving in a YSA (young single adults) ward, so I only teach YSA’s. We’re right by the University of Virginia, so we have to be careful to not go near the frat houses on weekends and especially holidays, because it’s dangerous with all the partiers. It’s kind of frustrating that we can’t proselyte on campus, because there are SO many YSA’s there. The ones in our ward are amazing! They are poor college kids, but they still feed us! We don’t eat home-made meals, but we do have a wonderful time, with Little Caesar’s pizza and the like. It’s awesome though! We live somewhat close to Monticello! I wish we could take the tour, but it’s $25 a person. Well, I have a ton more emails to attend to, but PLEASE send me Amanda’s email! I want to hear EVERYTHING about her farewell!! AND the get-together afterward!